I’ve often seen people take the term too literally, implying that the word “sense” is innate. For example, some people have a strong sense of smell, and others have strong product sense. But what’s really going on is something very different.
Product sense is better described as deep product knowledge, the result of truly immersing yourself in a specific product space.
You build strong product sense by spending serious quality time with customers, analyzing the competitive landscape, immersing yourself in product data, and consuming everything you can about the industry.
Your mind assimilates the learnings from all of these sources, and eventually, if you’ve been putting in the effort and paying attention, you develop a solid foundation in your product space. This allows you not only to understand the behaviors you observe but also to predict what’s likely to happen going forward.
Developing product sense is a never-ending journey.
Because your product changes, your industry evolves, technology advances, and your competitors improve, it’s critical to continually have direct experiences with customers. My obvious shortcuts are keeping in touch with the Sales and Support teams, but the most important part is simply having conversations with the users myself. What works exceptionally well for me is conducting in-person interviews. I often meet people in their own environment, whether it’s at their school, work, or home. Someone’s own environment is the richest place to learn, as they often feel most comfortable in their natural setup. Of course, it’s the most time-consuming option, so I tend to mix it up with other approaches such as video calls, but the results are 100% worth it.
That’s why I believe product sense is among the most important skills a product manager has. By knowing the context, the customers, and your product inside and out, you can make faster, higher-quality decisions.